perspectives

‘A Culture of Excellence, Dialogue, and Integrity: Q&A with LLM Student Shrishti

/ BC Law Impact Guest Posts / Leave a comment

Get to know Boston College Law School from the perspective of our current student, Shrishti, who is concentrating on Intellectual Property and whose home country is India:

What motivated you to pursue an LLM, and why did you choose this particular program?

I pursued an LLM to expand my global legal perspective and gain a deeper understanding of U.S. legal frameworks. BC Law stood out for its strong academic tradition, commitment to ethical leadership, and its inclusive approach to integrating international students into the fabric of the law school. I wanted a program that was both intellectually rigorous and personally transformative — and BC Law delivered.

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How (Bad) Movies Helped Me Survive Finals

/ Ian Hurley / Leave a comment

“Whoever a werewolf imprints on can’t be harmed. It’s their most absolute law.” ―  Edward Cullen in Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1

The stress of law school finals can humble even the most confident students. It distills months of study, outlining, and class participation into one exam to determine your mastery of the material. It all comes down to a few hours in a classroom. It’s daunting, overwhelming, and, even at times, exhilarating. 

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Seeing What Sticks: Trial and Error in Law School

/ Alex Mostaghimi / Leave a comment

For many law students, a consistent record of success follows them. A high undergraduate GPA, strong LSAT scores, and glowing recommendations make it seem like aptitude is a given and success is inevitable. Nevertheless, the heavier and harsh realities of law school quickly tear apart fanciful notions of an easy-breezy life. But if there was ever a place to fail, law school would be the place. 

Let me explain.

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Confronting Anxiety As A Law Student: An Existential Approach

/ Staniel Brutis / Leave a comment

I. INTRODUCTION

As a law student, I am confident that we are all familiar with anxiety, an invisible entity that has psychological and physiological effects upon the individual in whom it arises. It causes us to experience fear and trembling in moments where opportunity and possibility are the ripest. Chronic or severe anxiety can manifest in the form of emotional distress, obsessive thinking, compulsive behaviors, relational struggles, and general restlessness. Anxiety often carries a negative connotation due to these effects. However, in this essay, I’d like to offer a different perspective on anxiety, a perspective that diminishes anxiety to a mere nothing while simultaneously promoting it as the most transformative feeling an individual can experience. An absurd paradox.  

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From Financial Restructuring to Transactional Law: Meet Carlos Robles-Cruz

/ Sangeeta Kishore / 5 Comments

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Our first six entries were with Sara Womble, from Winston Salem, NC, Elias Massion, who comes from Nashville, TN and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Samina Gagné from London and Columbia University, Alvin Synarong from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Princeton, Ruchita Jain from Edina, Minnesota and Boston University, and Nicole Bauer from Michigan and Stanford University.

Name: Carlos Robles-Cruz

Hometown: Puerto Rico 

Educational Background: B.S., Finance and Accounting, Boston College, Carroll School of Management; M.S., Accounting, Boston College, Carroll School of Management

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The Five Best Bookstores You Have to Visit 

/ Samantha Torre / Leave a comment

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and while I’m not pulling my hair out over the prospect of finals, I’m thinking wistfully about summer plans. Not a vacation, no – I’m thinking of the 48 hours I will have every week, free of assigned readings and impeding cold calls. 

The perfect amount of time to visit one of the city’s many bookstores. For those of you who will be in Boston this summer, here’s a small guide. 

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What Exactly is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam?

/ Sangeeta Kishore / Leave a comment

This past week, like many of my 2L peers, I took the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam or the MPRE. This exam is a vital prerequisite or co-requisite to the bar exam for admission in most U.S. jurisdictions. So why have many people never heard of it before? 

What is the MPRE? 

The MPRE is a 2-hr, 60-question, multiple-choice exam, administered three times a year (March, August, and November), designed to test knowledge of the rules related to a lawyer’s professional conduct. There are two important things to note. There is no negative scoring so it doesn’t hurt to guess. And while you answer 60 questions, only 50 questions are graded. The remaining 10 are used for testing purposes and are indistinguishable from the graded questions on the test. In other words, answer every question. As for the material tested, while each state has its own set of ethical standards, the MPRE tests on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct so only worry about that. 

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From Law Faculty Support to Law Student: Meet Nicole Bauer

/ Sangeeta Kishore / 5 Comments

There are numerous roads to law school, and no one-size fits all path to a successful legal career. Follow along with our series highlighting BC Law students and how they got here! 

Our first five entries were with Sara Womble, from Winston Salem, NC, Elias Massion, who comes from Nashville, TN and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Samina Gagné from London and Columbia University, Alvin Synarong from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Princeton, and Ruchita Jain from Edina, Minnesota and Boston University.

Name: Nicole Bauer

Hometown: Sebewaing, Michigan 

Educational Background: B.A. Political Science, Minors in History and in Human Rights, Stanford University

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No Post-Grad Job Offer? No Problem!

/ Haley Cole / Leave a comment

The journey of getting a J.D. is fraught with uncertainty, but there is a particular lasting uncertainty that many public-interest law students feel as they navigate their way through school. Specifically, public-interest students can find themselves at the end of a three-year J.D. program unclear on where their next journey lies.

One may find it unfortunate that the public interest sector does not have a defined linear track like the big-law business lays out for law students. It can feel daunting to constantly search for your next summer experience each school year without the certainty that you will be offered long-term employment.

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The Conversations That Matter: How Mentors Changed My Life

/ Christopher Tan / Leave a comment

The coffee was burnt. The décor, forgettable—muted earth tones, a token abstract print on the wall. The air-conditioning droned overhead, numbing the space, while the espresso machine sputtered and sighed into the empty café. But the conversation was life-changing. I was twenty-two, sitting across from an attorney at Bloomberg in Hong Kong, trying to calibrate my enthusiasm, trying not to seem too eager, too green.

He sipped his espresso, glanced at a fancy watch, and then, just as I started doubting my ability to navigate this unfamiliar dynamic, he leaned forward and asked, “So, tell me about yourself?”

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